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Genetic evidence for the existence of sibling species within Contracaecum rudolphii (Hartwich, 1964) and the validity of Contracaecum septentrionale (Kreis, 1955) (Nematoda: Anisakidae)

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Abstract

Specimens of Contracaecum rudolphii sensu lato (s.l.) (Nematoda: Anisakidae) from Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis from northeastern and central Italy were characterised genetically and compared with those from Phalacrocorax aristotelis from Galician coasts, Spain (identified as C. rudolphii A by multilocus enzyme electrophoresis) and with specimens of C. septentrionale from Alca torda from the Galician coasts, Spain. The first (ITS-1) and second (ITS-2) internal transcribed spacers (ITS) of ribosomal DNA (rDNA) were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from individual nematodes and the amplicons subjected to single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis and/or sequencing. For each ITS region, C. septentrionale specimens were distinct from those of C. rudolphii (s.l.) and C. rudolphii A based on SSCP profiles and ITS sequences. Some specimens of C. rudolphii (s.l.) had the same SSCP profiles and ITS sequences as C. rudolphii A, whereas the others had distinct SSCP profiles and ITS sequences and were suggested to represent C. rudolphii B based on host and geographical origins and genetic similarity to C. rudolphii A. While no length or nucleotide variation in the ITS-1 and ITS-2 sequences was detected within each taxon, nucleotide differences of 1.8–5.5% (ITS-1) and 5.1–12.2% (ITS-2) were detected among them. The results support the hypothesis that C. rudolphii represents a complex of at least two sibling species and provide support for the validity of C. septentrionale as a separate species. The definition of genetic markers in the ITS rDNA provides opportunities for investigating the life cycles, transmission patterns and ecology of the anisakid nematodes studied herein.

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Acknowledgements

Project support was provided in part by the China National Funds for Distinguished Young Scientist (Grant No. 30225033), the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (Grant No. 36835) and the Scientific and Technological Programmes of Guangdong Province (Grant No. 2004B50201020) to XQZ, as well as the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (No. 036606) to ZRL.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, 135 Xingang West Street, Haizhu District, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, 510275, The People’s Republic of China

    An-Xing Li & Zhao-Rong Lun

  2. Department of Public Health Sciences, Parasitology Section, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, P.le Aldo Moro, 5 - Box 6 Rome 62, 00185, Rome, Italy

    Stefano D’Amelio & Lia Paggi

  3. College of Veterinary Medicine, South China Agricultural University, 483 Wushan Street, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, 510642, The People’s Republic of China

    Fang He & Xing-Quan Zhu

  4. Department of Veterinary Science, The University of Melbourne, 250 Princes Highway, Werribee, Victoria, 3030, Australia

    Robin B. Gasser

  5. Centro de Investigacions Marinas, Conselleria de Pesca e Asuntos Maritimos, Xunta de Galicia, Apartado 13, 36620, Vilanova de Arousa, Spain

    Elvira Abollo

  6. Department of Biology, University of Padova, Via U.Bassi, 58/B, 35121, Padova, Italy

    Margherita Turchetto

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  1. An-Xing Li
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  2. Stefano D’Amelio
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  3. Lia Paggi
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  4. Fang He
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  5. Robin B. Gasser
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  6. Zhao-Rong Lun
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  7. Elvira Abollo
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  8. Margherita Turchetto
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  9. Xing-Quan Zhu
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Correspondence to Xing-Quan Zhu.

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Declaration: The experiments comply with the current laws of the countries in which the experiments were performed.

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Li, AX., D’Amelio, S., Paggi, L. et al. Genetic evidence for the existence of sibling species within Contracaecum rudolphii (Hartwich, 1964) and the validity of Contracaecum septentrionale (Kreis, 1955) (Nematoda: Anisakidae). Parasitol Res 96, 361–366 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-005-1366-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-005-1366-y

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